Mnemonic Association System for Numbers
4-minute read • Memory Techniques Wiki
The Association System for numbers is a way to create visual images for numbers. Watch the Introduction to Memorizing Numbers video for a quick overview.
This is a method for creating Mnemonic images for numbers based on things that the numbers remind you of. For example, 02 might be a bicycle, because a bicycle has two wheels. 52 might be a deck of cards, because a deck of cards has 52 cards.
Decimal Numbers
Two examples of association methods for single-digit numbers are the Number Shape System and the Number Rhyme System. Another interesting idea is to assign images based on things that happened during certain years. See also: Date-Based Number System.
Andi Bell describes a complete system for 00-99 in his Memory Pack, which is unfortunately out-of-print. This is a sample set of images that shows how one person used the association method:
- 00 — hula hoop
- 01 — stick
- 02 — bicycle
- 03 — comb
- 04 — car
- 05 — starfish
- 06 — die (dice)
- 07 — rainbow — seven colors in the rainbow
- 08 — octopus
- 09 — a cat — nine lives
- 10 — soccer player (Pele wears 10)
- 11 — goalposts (soccer/football)
- 12 — the sun (12 noon)
- 13 — a pen drawing the letter B (looks like 13)
- 14 — pi-shaped table
- 15 — a badminton birdie (15 points)
- 16 — a tennis racket (16 seeded players)
- 17 — a leaf - this came from St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) but is a leaf instead of a shamrock
- 18 — the golf hole with a flag — maybe because a golf course has 18 holes
- 19 — a beer (at the 19th hole)
- 20 — binoculars (20-20 vision)
- 21 — a canon (21 gun salute)
- 22 — two birds — looks like 2 ducklings
- 23 — a palm tree — 3 rhymes with tree. Twenty starts with “t”. Also, the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are at 23 degrees north and south, and you could link “the tropics” with a palm tree.
- 24 — a bell — rings 24 times per day if ringing on the hour
- 25 — Christmas present because of December 25
- 26 — a running shoe (26 mile marathon)
- 27 — a goblin
- 28 — an owl — “tu-whit” sounds like “twenty eight”
- 29 — a frog — 29 days in a leap year
- 30 — a mosque/minaret — Ramadan has 30 days
- 31 — a party horn (December 31st, New Year’s Eve)
- 32 — a directional compass (32 points)
- 33 — a record — 33 RPM
- 34 — waltzing dancer (3/4 meter)
- 35 — US presidents have to be at least 35 years old
- 36 — a drafting compass — 360°?
- 37 — Eiffel Tower
- 38 — a girl doing a handstand — “BE upside-down” — “BE” looks like 38 upside-down.
- 39 — a doorstep from “The 39 Steps” by John Buchan
- 40 — a martini — life begins at 40
- 41 — Mozart (41 symphonies)
- 42 — a street lamp on 42nd Street
- 43 — a baseball bat (World Series: 4 matches to 3)
- 44 — a sheet of music (4/4 meter)
- 45 — a rose (of peace at the end of war in ‘45)
- 46 — a tennis ball (from a tennis score)
- 47 — a snooker cue (“the maximum break you could make with this snookercue is 147”)
- 48 — a cello — 4 string on a 8-shaped body
- 49 — a American football — SF 49ers
- 50 — 50 pence coin
- 51 — The Crystal Palace in London (1851)
- 52 — a deck of cards
- 53 — a joker (53rd card)
- 54 — a rocket (countdown: 5…4…)
- 55 — Caesar (first invasion of Britain 55 B.C.E.)
- 56 — a Rubik’s cube which has 56 squares
- 57 — Sputnik — the year that Sputnik went into space
- 58 — a hand throwing seeds on the ground (5 fingers, 8 seeds?)
- 59 — a ticket
- 60 — a wristwatch (60 seconds, 60 minutes)
- 61 — a wall (Berlin wall 1961)
- 62 — Fidel Castro — the year of the Cuban missile crisis
- 63 — a chess pawn
- 64 — a chessboard, because there are 64 squares on the board
- 65 — Tyrannosaurus rex (65 million years ago)
- 66 — an ice cube (The Arctic and Subarctic begin 66 degrees north or south)
- 67 — God (6 days to make the world, 7th day resting)
- 68 — a bee flying in a figure 8 (6 legs)
- 69 — an astronaut — 1969 was the moon landing
- 70 — hockey stick and puck
- 71 — an iron
- 72 — a bag of golf clubs (72 holes in a golf competition)
- 73 — a refrigerator (absolute zero is -273 degrees)
- 74 — a paper airplane (from 747)
- 75 — a percent symbol (“75%” is common)
- 76 — a trombone
- 77 — a team of horses (the heads look like 77)
- 78 — confetti (1978 World Cup confetti)
- 79 — a key (7 is the key, 9 is the keyhole)
- 80 — a thermometer (80 degrees F is hot)
- 81 — the space shuttle. 1981 was the year of first launch.
- 82 — an atom (“These are 8 outer electrons and 2 inner ones, all spinning round the nucleus in the atom.”)
- 83 — a hurgle from the 1983 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki
- 84 — a book (Orwell’s 1984)
- 85 — a microphone (Live Aid concerts 1985)
- 86 — a lightbulb
- 87 — an onion
- 88 — a piano, because a piano has 88 keys
- 89 — a brick (from the Berlin Wall 1989)
- 90 — the Pole Star (90 degrees)
- 91 — a sunflower (9 is the flower, 1 is a stick supporting it)
- 92 — Columbus (1492)
- 93 — a globe (Earth is 3rd of 9 planets)
- 94 — Saturn (one of the 4 gas giants)
- 95 — a briefcase (working 9 to 5)
- 96 — a discus (first Olympics 1896)
- 97 — a CD
- 98 — a window
- 99 — Albert Einstein (Einsteinium is element #99)
The Shaper System
See The Shaper System.
Binary Numbers
See the following page for ideas about using associations with binary numbers.
